Queensland State budget 2019: How to create comprehensible content out of complex material

A few days
ago the Treasurer, Jackie Trad, handed down the Queensland State Budget. As
with the recent Federal Budget, the budget release was followed by piles of content, analysis and commentary,
including our own Budget Snapshot. However, while businesses across
Queensland jostle to provide unique perspectives on the content of the budget, the
budget process itself is a fascinating piece of communication.

Australian
budgets are unique political events, the opportunity for the government of the
day to both develop a detailed policy offering and convert that into a clear
political message to sell to the electorate. It is an exercise in turning
highly complex information into understandable, and marketable, messages. So,
what lessons can businesses learn from Australian budgets?

Simple,
clear messages

Whether you
think about Jackie Trad’s ‘budget for regional Queensland’ or Josh Frydenberg’s ‘Back in Black’, budgets benefit from having a strong,
digestible message at their core. These messages signpost the government’s
focus and give voters a clear understanding of the simple intentions at the
heart of complex budgets.

Businesses
communicating complex information can also benefit from this approach. Whether
you are preparing a report, giving a presentation or meeting with a client, finding
and communicating a central takeaway from the information you are presenting
can ensure your audience receives the right impression, and understands the basics
of what it is your telling them.

Make it
personal

Politicians
are adept at identifying key stakeholder groups and using them to personalise a
message, to put a face to the impacts of a particular policy. Think of the
communication of the instant asset write-off program which was marketed towards
‘Tony’s Tradies’ – small business owners and
subcontractors who would stand to benefit from the ability to instantly write
off depreciation on newly purchased assets for their businesses. While this
policy may have had benefits for a broad range of stakeholders, the government
identified a key demographic to make an example of, giving their message a
personal character and thereby adding clarity and weight.

While some
things cannot be reduced to personal impacts, businesses can nevertheless learn
from this approach. Look for a case study, quote an expert, offer examples of
the real-world impacts of the issues you are communicating. Making your message
personal gives your audience a way to connect it to their lives and improves
the likelihood they will sit up and pay attention.

Stay
across the detail

While you
need to ensure that your messages are clear, that can’t come at the expense of
a deep understanding of the detail. Given the complexity of a state or federal budget,
treasurers and ministers are challenged to understand, and be able to
communicate, a huge amount of information – sometimes leading to cringeworthy public
gaffes.

While you
may be under significantly less scrutiny than a federal minister, it still pays
to learn the lesson that, no matter how strong an orator you may be, if you
don’t know the facts you won’t be able to communicate them effectively. Stay
across the detail and ensure you have the information to support the assertions
you make, regardless of the communication platform you choose.

Hating
politicians may be a popular Australian pastime, but businesses and
organisations would do well to learn whatever lessons they can from the
political class. When it comes to communicating complexity, there are many
lessons that can be gained by looking at both successful, and unsuccessful
budgets, and the way they have been communicated.